Zillow Group (NASDAQ:Z) Rating Lowered to Hold at Zacks Research

Zillow Group (NASDAQ:Z) was downgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on Z. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Zillow Group from $84.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on Zillow Group from $80.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 8th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Zillow Group from $80.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on Zillow Group from $60.00 to $50.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Zillow Group in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $77.00.

Zillow Group Stock Performance

Shares of Z opened at $35.06 on Thursday. Zillow Group has a 52 week low of $34.37 and a 52 week high of $93.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 140.24, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.97. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $40.42 and a 200-day moving average of $53.38.

Zillow Group (NASDAQ:Z) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.10. Zillow Group had a return on equity of 1.41% and a net margin of 2.27%.The company had revenue of $708.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $705.10 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Zillow Group will post 0.9 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, General Counsel Bradley D. Owens sold 3,364 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.23, for a total value of $125,241.72. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 65,245 shares in the company, valued at $2,429,071.35. This represents a 4.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Jeremy Wacksman sold 9,072 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.54, for a total value of $331,490.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 153,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,616,161.46. The trade was a 5.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 42,119 shares of company stock valued at $1,578,206 over the last ninety days. 25.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Zillow Group

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of Z. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in Zillow Group by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 3,822 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $262,000 after acquiring an additional 171 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Zillow Group by 21.7% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 20,518 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,407,000 after acquiring an additional 3,653 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Zillow Group by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 23,064 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,616,000 after acquiring an additional 362 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in Zillow Group by 186.3% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,678 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $118,000 after acquiring an additional 1,092 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in Zillow Group by 1,895.4% during the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 128,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,992,000 after acquiring an additional 121,929 shares during the period. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Zillow Group

Zillow Group, Inc is an online real estate marketplace company that operates a portfolio of consumer-facing websites and mobile apps designed to connect buyers, sellers, renters, homeowners and real estate professionals. The company’s platforms aggregate property listings, rental listings, and related information to help users search for homes, estimate property values and connect with agents and service providers. Zillow generates revenue primarily through advertising and lead-generation services for real estate professionals, property managers and mortgage lenders.

Key products and services include the Zillow and Trulia consumer websites and apps, which provide searchable listings, photos, neighborhood data and the company’s automated home valuation tool known as the “Zestimate.” Zillow also offers a rentals marketplace, a mortgage marketplace and tools for home buying and selling such as Zillow Premier Agent for agent advertising and leads, as well as ancillary services designed to support transactions, including closing and title-related offerings.